The present invention relates to a lock in which when in a locked position its outer handle can still be rotated or be freewheeling so that a normal rotational movement applied to the outer handle will not be undesirably transferred to internal components of the lock.
Door locks generally have a push button disposed at an inner side of the door and used to operate a control rod so as to block an outer door handle from a rotational movement to open the door. To unlock the outer door handle from an outer side of a door when the push button is in effect, a key is simply required to operate the control rod to release the locking condition of the outer door handle. This is the situation when a user knows in advance that the door is locked and therefore he must use a key to unlock the outer door handle. This, however, is not the situation when a user does not have any idea about if the lock is in a locked or unlocked condition.
When a user is to open a door equipped with a lock without knowing in advance that the lock is in a locked condition, a first reaction of the user would be to turn the outer handle or knob, but not to use a key. The key will be used only when the user later finds out that the lock is in a locked condition. Under repeated application of excessive turning force exerted by a user upon the outer handle or knob, loosening of the lock itself or with respect to the door is apt to occur. The present invention thus aims to "allow the possibility of a freewheeling movement of an outer door handle when the lock is in a locked condition."